Biblical Liberation From Liberalism (Michael Medved On The True Meaning Of Passover Alert)

With the arrival of the eight day Passover Festival on Monday night, I was preparing some material for our family-reunion Seder meal (Diane and I will be together with all three of our children, plus my visiting father from Jerusalem) when I stumbled across one of the most important of all verses in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Leviticus 19:15 declares: "You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow."

About fifteen years ago I engaged in a memorable public debate with my friend Dennis Prager in which he rightly identified this passage as perhaps the most crucial conservative verse in the whole Bible.

It should, indeed, come as a revelation and a rebuke to all liberals that Holy Scripture identifies "favoring the poor" as "a perversion of justice."

As I argued in my recent townhall column about the essence of liberalism (posted on March 21st), the outlook of the left insists upon favoring the poor and the unfortunate—and thereby injecting unfairness and discrimination into the very core of politics and government. Favoring the poor, like favoring the rich, brings unequal treatment based on status, not actions. Justice requires rewarding good behavior, no matter its source, and discouraging and punishing bad actions, no matter who performs them.

Concerning the crucial sentence, Rabbi SchlomoYitzhaki (Rashi), the great 11th Century sage commented: "'You shall not favor the poor' means that you should not say that a wealthy man is obligated to help the poor, therefore it is proper for a judge to rule in favor of the poor litigant. Torah insists that justice be rendered honestly; as important as charity is, it must not interfere with justice."

Jewish tradition goes on to clarify the apparent contradiction between numerous Biblical injunctions to act compassionately to the poor, to the widow and the orphan, and this unequivocal insistence on avoiding favoritism. The essential point is that it's the individual that's primarily commanded to display compassion and give charity, while the government, particularly in its judicial aspect, must judge actions, not persons.

The profound significance of Leviticus 19:15 becomes apparent with the other hugely important commands that follow it almost immediately. The next verse states: "You shall not be a gossipmonger among your people, and you shall not stand aside while your fellow's blood is shed- I am The Lord." Then one verse later comes perhaps the most famous statement of all the Hebrew Scriptures (Leviticus 19:16): "You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against he members of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself – I am the Lord."

Leftists should take note: "loving your neighbor" doesn't involve protecting him against the just consequences of his own mistakes, or giving him special dispensation if he's unlucky, or punishing the productive in the name of helping the less fortunate.

A just and loving society, in other words, doesn't enshrine victimhood and doesn't see a contradiction between justice and compassion. Both are attributes of the living God but they shouldn't be confused.

For conservatives who are regularly pilloried by the religious left for their harsh, un-Godly attitudes, these sentiments should feel liberating – an appropriate reminder for this holy season in the ancient Biblical calendar, when we celebrate freedom from bondage and even from well-intended mistakes.

Michael Medved is a film critic, best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host.

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Biblical Liberation from Liberalism By Michael Medved Wednesday, April 11, 2007 Email It Print It Take Action Read Article & Comments (3) Trackbacks Post Your Comments

Leviticus 19:15 declares: "You shall not commit a perversion of justice: you shall not favor the poor and you shall not honor the great, with righteousness shall you judge your fellow."

It should, indeed, come as a revelation and a rebuke to all liberals that Holy Scripture identifies "favoring the poor" as "a perversion of justice."

The true meaning of Passover is a demand that freedom be accompanied by responsibility: in what can be eaten over the course of the holiday, in the injunction to be i.e, impartial in judging between people, to desist in harming them with loshon hara , i.e, evil speech, to help someone whose life is in dangerand to treat your fellow man and love your fellow man as you would want to be treated and loved in return. Freedom is about obligations to our fellow man before God and when we abide by them, then we will be truly free in body, mind and spirit. Its the exact opposite of the liberal concern with feelings and doling out rewards to favored groups and hating any one who insists we must have a sense of responsibility towards our fellow men. Now we know what freedom is and what freedom isn't.

Let's strive to do the right thing the rest of the year and next year, let us recall the true meaning of Passover again - for ourselves, our children and our children's children through the generations to come.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

The true meaning of Passover is a demand that freedom be accompanied by responsibility: in what can be eaten over the course of the holiday...

Really?
And here all along I thought it was all about a righteous and holy God sparing the first-born child of every home in Egypt upon which the blood of the lamb was smeared over the doorposts.
Silly me.

"On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn—both men and animals—and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you." -- Exodus 12:12-13

The Torah records the Jews' first act was to brush blood of lambs on their doorposts so the Angel Of Death would pass over them. What lesson is to be derived from it? Faith is not enough to move even God to act on your behalf. First, one must do the right thing and then God will be at your side. Faith without works is dead; but works moves faith even over the mountains.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

None of Abraham's works made him righteous before God.
However, it was because of Abraham's faith that God counted it to him as "righteousness."

"And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." -- Genesis 15:5-6

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